Democracy Now! Blog

The New York Daily News has published a series of articles highlighting the work of columnist and Democracy Now! co-host Juan González. "It is hard to believe that 25 years have passed since Juan walked past the landmark globe in the landmark News Building on E. 42nd St. and took a desk in the seventh-floor city room, a newcomer from a Philadelphia newspaper," the editors of the paper wrote. "Juan came home to write a column. And write the hell out of it he did, as New York’s leading pro-left, pro-labor voice. Along the way, Juan became a beacon to whistleblowers and to wronged people for whom justice was lacking."

CODEPINK protesters interrupted the National Rifle Association’s event on Friday as the group held its first press conference since the Newtown, CT, massacre. During comments made by NRACEO Wayne LaPierre, one protester held up a banner reading, “The NRA is killing our kids," then another stood up with a banner that read, "NRA: Blood On Your Hands."

The author of a new report on U.S. carbon billionaires gives Democracy Now! a tour of the Kochtopus — a map of the empire of Charles and David Koch. The Kochs run oil refineries and control thousands of miles of pipeline, giving them a massive personal stake in the fossil fuel industry. [includes rush transcript]

As Venezuela says President Hugo Chávez has undergone successful cancer surgery in Cuba, after disclosing that his cancer had returned, we revisit a 2009 interview in which he discusses climate change and President Obama. [includes rush transcript]

Curators at Smithsonian have included Democracy Now! co-host Juan González’s book, "Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America," on their holiday gift guide for history lovers. This comes as the film based on his book has won an award for the best use of archival footage at the International Documentary Association Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.

Twelve students have barricaded themselves inside a campus building of New York City’s Cooper Union demanding the school affirm its commitment to free education. Democracy Now! attended the protest to interview supporters rallying outside. [includes rush transcript]

Democracy Now! was there when workers at dozens of restaurants owned by McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC, Taco Bell and others went on strike Thursday and rallied in a bid for fair pay and union recognition. [includes rush transcript]

Democracy Now! is broadcasting from the annual U.N. Climate Change Summit, as it convenes in Doha, Qatar. Tune in this week to see our coverage of the official proceedings, as well as events outside the conference. As Amy Goodman noted in her recent column, "No world leader at the U.N. climate change summit hasn’t heard the warnings, but it will take popular pressure to make them act."

We interview political and economic author Kevin Phillips Wednesday about his new book, "1775: A Good Year for Revolution," which follows "a United States taking shape rather than losing headway." Phillips argues 1775–not 1776–is the more important year of the American Revolution. Click to read an excerpt from the book and to see a past interview with Phillips on Democracy Now!

Award-winning filmmaker Oliver Stone and historian Peter Kuznick discuss the creative process behind their new 10-part documentary series, "The Untold History of the United States," which spans from the 19th century to the present. "Americans don’t know history," Kuznick says. "The history they do know is mostly wrong." [includes rush transcript]

It’s been more than two weeks since Superstorm Sandy hit New York City, yet thousands of people in the city’s public housing buildings are still in the cold. The city says it has restored some level of power to all housing projects, but as of Wednesday, nearly 16,000 public tenants were without heat and hot water. Some remained without any reliable water — hot or cold. Also out of service were dozens of elevators impacted by the storm. One of the areas most affected has been Coney Island at the southern tip of Brooklyn, where the storm poured saltwater into basements, devastating equipment. [includes rush transcript]

We continue our conversation with broadcaster Tavis Smiley and professor, activist Dr. Cornel West about their push for President Obama to address poverty in his second term. Smiley argues the ultimate question now, is: "Are we ready to push?" He and West have organized a symposium to take place on Jan. 17, prior to Obama’s inauguration, to demand Obama call a White House conference on the eradication of poverty. [includes rush transcript]

Many of the East Coast’s waste treatment plants failed during Superstorm Sandy, causing them to release thousands of gallons of raw sewage into the area’s waterways. In this video report, Democracy Now! teams up with the watchdog group Riverkeeper to tour New York City’s industrial waterfront four day after the storm, and find mixed results from water samples taken along the way. [includes rush transcript]

Tune in Tuesday night from 7pm to 1am ET for Democracy Now!’s live special coverage of the 2012 election. Amy Goodman and Juan González, along with investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill, will offer real-time results from presidential and congressional races, and bring you coverage of voter suppression efforts and key issues in the race. Correspondents and guests will join us from Florida, Ohio, Colorado, Virginia, Massachusetts, Washington, D.C., New York City and more.

New York City authorities promise the island home to 12,000 New York City prisoners sits on land high enough to withstand a Category 4 hurricane. But advocates told Democracy Now! they are still concerned that Rikers Island is not being evacuated, given the size of the Frankenstorm that is Hurricane Sandy. They also point to prison officials’ failure to communicate clearly with inmates and their families last year during Hurricane Irene.

Watch our full three-and-a-half-hour "Expanding the Debate" special featuring Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein and Justice Party nominee Rocky Anderson responding to the same questions posed to President Obama and Mitt Romney in the final debate of the campaign. In a pre-debate discussion, we speak to Ai-jen Poo of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, University of San Francisco Professor Stephen Zunes, and Norman Solomon, co-founder of RootsAction.org. [includes rush transcript]

In his first live television interview since his release from Iranian prison, journalist Shane Bauer shines the light on solitary confinement inside the California prison system. Bauer was one of three Americans detained in 2009 while hiking in Iraq’s Kurdish region near the Iranian border. He and Josh Fattal were held by Iran for 26 months, and Sarah Shourd — now Bauer’s wife — was held for 13 months, much of it in solitary confinement. [includes rush transcript]

We spoke with Mattias Gardell as he sailed through international waters on board the Swedish boat to Gaza, Estelle, before it was seized Saturday by the Israeli military as it attempted to break the Israeli blockade. The boat was called a "provocation" by Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations. "What is a provocation is the fact that the current right-wing Israeli government has enforced the illegal seize of Gaza," Gardell told Democracy Now! [includes rush transcript]

DN! In Depth

By Amy Goodman with Denis Moynihan — The corporate television newscasts spend more and more time covering the increasingly disruptive, costly and at times deadly weather. But they consistently fail to make the link between extreme weather and climate change.